BFF 2015: Bonding with Friends and Francis

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Philippines is set to have a very blessed year to be graced with the Holy Father’s presence this January. Pope Francis’ heart is close to the young ones all over the world, often taking selfies with them but sadly, some Filipino youth still do not seem to be as excited to attend the Papal visit in Manila because they don’t see what’s in it for them if they go.

To bring Pope Francis even closer to the Filipino youth, the graduating class of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) students from the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) launched a marketing communications campaign to bridge the youth to Pope Francis and his message of mercy and compassion using the influence of the Filipino barkadas.

The campaign is entitled “BFF 2015: Bonding with Friends and Francis” and it features an “online-serye”, which revolves around a character named Frankie Francisco, who is trying to convince his other friends Mark, Bea, Kim, and Josh to go with him to the Papal Visit. Each of the characters represent an archetype in a typical Filipino barkada, whom the youth can surely relate with.

Selfie booths were set up in churches and schools in Metro Manila so the young ones and the young at hearts get to bond and have a selfie with the Pope even before he visits the country. Plushie keychains modeled after the Pope called #PapalPlushies are made for sale through this campaign in partnership with Popjunklove to raise funds for the Pope Francis Center for the Poor in Palo, Leyte.

The official Facebook page of the Bonding with Friends and Francis Campaign reached 2,000 likes the day before Pope Francis arrived. It was made possible by all the young Filipinos who became like Frankie and invited their barkadas to participate in this once in a lifetime event and hopefully spread the message of mercy and compassion among their peers.

Here are the links to their social media accounts (Facebook and Twitter)

http://facebook.com/bff2015ph
http://twitter.com/FrankieBFF